CURRENT AFFAIRS
16 April 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Hold polls to remaining phases in one go, Mamata tells Election Commission.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee urged the Election Commission of India (EC) to consider holding polls for all the remaining Assembly constituencies in West Bengal on a single day, instead of following the existing schedule with four phases still to go. So far, the West Bengal Assembly polls have been held for 135 seats, and the remaining 159 seats go to the polls between April 17 and 29. Amid an ongoing pandemic, we firmly opposed ECI’s decision to conduct West Bengal polls in eight phases. Now, in view of the huge surge in #COVID19 cases, I urge ECI to consider holding the remaining phases in ONE go. This will protect the people from further exposure to #COVID19, Banerjee tweeted. Party insiders said that the TMC would be raising the issue at a meeting called by the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal on Friday. The EC’s spokesperson in Delhi said that Friday’s meeting was only to ask all political parties to strictly adhere to the Covid-19 protocol issued by the Commission. The EC also clarified that there was no plan of clubbing the remaining phases. According to the Union Health Ministry’s numbers, West Bengal had reported 32,621 active Covid-19 cases as on Thursday morning. The situation in the State is grim. Congress candidate from Samserganj in Murshidabad, Rejaul Haque, died at a Kolkata hospital on Thursday morning. He had tested positive for Covid-19. TMC leaders said that they had always been opposed to the eight phases of elections announced by the Election Commission, and in view of the spurt in Covid-19 cases, it was imperative that the Assembly elections in the State were curtailed. Party president and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had questioned the EC’s neutrality with regard to the eight-phase elections, saying States of a similar size, such as Bihar and Assam, only had three-phase polls. Meanwhile, the EC today imposed a 24-hour campaigning ban on West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh over his statement that the firing by central forces in Sitalkuchi on April 10 was just the beginning.
B) Kejriwal announces weekend curfew in Delhi; malls, gyms and spas to be closed.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on April 15 announced a weekend curfew in Delhi in an attempt to break the chain of transmission of Covid-19 in the national capital. The Chief Minister said that essential services will not be impacted during the curfew and e-passes will be provided for essential services providers and for those who need to attend weddings over the weekend as the wedding season is on. During the week, people have to step out to earn their livelihood. But over the weekend, people go out for entertainment and other activities that can be curtailed, Kejriwal said as the city reported over 17,000 cases on April 14. He added that malls, gyms, spas and auditoriums will be shut immediately, and cinema halls can run with 30% occupancy. Only one weekly market per day, per zone will be allowed to operate. At restaurants, there will be no dine-in facility and only take-away services will be permitted. Imposing these restrictions right now is very important and he hope everyone will cooperate with the government. We will also be enhancing our enforcement drive to ensure people are maintaining social distancing and wearing masks, Kejriwal said. He added that there was no shortage of beds in the national capital and over 5,000 beds in the Capital are vacant. Please do not insist on a hospital of your choice. There may be three-four hospitals that do no have any beds left but that does not mean that there are no beds left in the entire city, Kejriwal said.
C) Umar Khalid gets bail in Delhi riots case but will remain in jail.
A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to former JNU student Umar Khalid in a case related to the communal violence in northeast Delhi in February last year, saying he was not physically present at the scene of crime on the date of incident, PTI reported. The applicant (Khalid) is not visible in any CCTV footage/viral video(s) pertaining to the scene of crime on the date of incident. There is no identification of the applicant either through independent public witness or any police witness of he being present at the scene of crime on the date of incident, Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav noted in the order. The court further said that even the CDR location of the mobile phone of applicant was not found at the scene of crime on the date of incident. The applicant has merely been roped in the matter on basis of his own disclosure statement, fourth disclosure statement of co-accused Tahir Hussain, and disclosure statement of co-accused Khalid Saifi, it said, adding that no recovery of any sort has been effected from the applicant pursuant to his disclosure statement. The court rejected prosecution’s argument that Khalid had been in regular contact/touch with co-accused Tahir Hussain and Khalid Saifi over mobile phone and said that prima facie that does not in any way go on to establish the criminal conspiracy alleged against the applicant in the matter. The FIR in the present case was registered on the statement of Constable Sangram Singh, where he stated that on February 24, 2020 at about 2 PM, a large crowd gathered on the road in a locality in the northeast Delhi and started pelting stones in which he and other police officials got injured. Though Khalid has been granted bail in this case, he will remain in jail as the former JNU student leader is also accused in some other cases, including one related to criminal conspiracy under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
D) Over 1,700 people test positive in Kumbh Mela.
Over 1,700 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the Haridwar Kumbh Mela area from April 10 to 14, confirming fears that one of the world’s largest religious gatherings may contribute further to the rapid rise in coronavirus cases. Medical workers conducted 2,36,751 tests over the five-day period in the mela site. Out of these, 1,701 came out positive for coronavirus. The numbers include both RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Test reports of devotees and seers of different akharas (ascetic groups) over the five-day period in the entire mela site extending from Haridwar to Devprayag, Haridwar’s Chief Medical Officer Shambhu Kumar Jha said on April 15. More RT-PCR test reports are awaited and the trend shows that the number of infected persons in the Kumbh Mela site is likely to climb to 2,000, he said. The Kumbh Mela area is spread over 670 hectares covering parts of Haridwar, Tehri and Dehradun districts, including Rishikesh. A majority of the 48.51 lakh people who took part in the last two ‘royal baths’ (shahi snan) held on the occasion of Somwati Amavasya on April 12 and Mesh Sankranti on April 14 were seen openly violating Covid-19 precautions like wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing.
E) SC orders CBI to look into Nambi Narayanan case.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the CBI to look into the Justice D.K. Jain Committee report on senior Kerala police officials who allegedly framed space scientist Nambi Narayanan in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) espionage case of 1994. A Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar said the report concerned a serious matter warranting a CBI probe. This requires a thorough investigation, Justice Khanwilkar said. Registrar Judicial shall forward a copy of the report to the Acting Director, CBI, who may proceed in accordance with the law. Open to the CBI to treat the report as a preliminary enquiry report and proceed accordingly, the order said. The Supreme Court barred the public circulation of the contents of the report. The Supreme Court copy would be placed in a sealed cover. Advocate Amit Sharma, for one of the police officers, retired ADGP Siby Mathews, said while Narayanan was heard out by the committee, Mathews was not called or given an opportunity to state his case. The Centre has also put its weight behind a report filed by a three-member Committee chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice D.K. Jain. The Centre had applied to the Supreme Court, urging it to accept on record the inquiry report submitted by the Justice Jain Committee and take suitable action on the suggestions made within against the erring officials. Narayanan, in his petition before the Supreme Court, had arraigned Mathews, K.K. Joshwa and S. Vijayan (the latter two had retired in senior positions in the police), as responsible. The Committee was constituted by the Supreme Court in September 2018 to find out ways and means to take appropriate steps against the erring officials.
F) Online census of Assamese Muslims launched.
The Janagosthiya Samannay Parishad, Assam (JSPA) on Thursday launched a portal for conducting the first-ever census of Assamese Muslims for distinguishing them from their migrant, Bengal-origin or Bengali-speaking counterparts. The JSPA represents three categories of Assamese Muslims Goriya who converted from various indigenous groups and tribes, Moriya whose ancestors were brought by the Ahom kings to make weapons and utensils, and Deshi, who converted specifically from the Koch-Rajbongshi community. The three-month exercise, seen as a small-scale version of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), has a cut-off period corresponding with the British annexation of Assam in the early 1800s. The JSPA considers the pre-British rule Muslims of Assam as indigenous, which is why the Jolahas converts from among tea plantation workers who were brought from central India by British planters have been kept out of the census. Released in August 2019, the NRC had excluded 19.06 lakh of 3.3 crore applicants for lack of documents establishing them as the citizens of India. The cut-off period for the NRC was March 24, 1971, as prescribed by the Assam Accord of 1985 for detecting and deporting foreigners or illegal immigrants. They launched the portal jspacensus.com portal today [April 15] to coincide with the Assamese New Year and hope to complete the exercise by the end of 2021, JSPA’s chief convenor Syed Mominul Aowal said.
G) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.
The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,42,63,074 with the death toll at 1,75,452. India’s drug regulator will take a decision on applications seeking approval for restricted emergency use of foreign-produced Covid-19 vaccines within three working days from the date of submission, the government said on April 15. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), which is headed by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), will process applications for registration certificate (registration of overseas manufacturing site and product, in this case Covid-19 vaccine) and import license within three working days from the date of approval of restricted use in emergency situation. In view of a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases, the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance test (NEET), which was scheduled to be held on April 18, has been postponed, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Thursday. In light of the surge in #COVID19 cases, GoI has decided to postpone #NEETPG2021 exam which was earlier scheduled to be held on Apr 18. Next date to be decided later. Decision has been taken keeping wellbeing of our young medical students in mind, he said in a tweet. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation shot up to an 8-year high of 7.39% in March on rising crude oil and metal prices. Also, the low base of March last year, when the data was computed with a low response rate due to the nationwide lockdown, contributed to a spike in inflation in March 2021. The WPI inflation was 4.17 % in February and 0.42 % in March 2020. This is the third straight month of up-tick seen in WPI-based inflation. Such a high level of WPI was last recorded in October 2012, when inflation was 7.4 %.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) India, France sign agreement for cooperation on Gaganyaan.
Space agencies of India and France on Thursday signed an agreement for cooperation for the country’s first human space mission Gaganyaan, the French space agency CNES said. The agreement was announced during French Foreign Affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s visit to the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) headquarters. ISRO has asked CNES to help prepare for Gaganyaan missions and to serve as its single European contact in this domain. Under the terms of the agreement, CNES will train India’s flight physicians and CAPCOM mission control teams in France at the CADMOS centre for the development of microgravity applications and space operations at CNES in Toulouse and at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany, the CNES said. The agreement provides for the CNES to support implementation of a scientific experiment plan on validation missions, exchange information on food packaging and the nutrition programme, and above all, the use by Indian astronauts of French equipment, consumables, and medical instruments. French equipment developed by CNES, tested and still operating aboard the International Space Station (ISS), will thus be made available to Indian crews. Thomas Pesquet, who is set to make his second flight to the International Space Station on April 22 for the Alpha mission, had previously tested these devices on his first spaceflight. The Gaganyaan orbital spacecraft project was kicked off in August 2018. It originally intended to send astronauts from Indian soil to mark the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in 2022. However, the mission has been delayed due to the restrictions imposed in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
B) Drone targets U.S. troops at Iraq’s Erbil airport.
A drone dropped explosives near U.S. forces stationed at Erbil airport in northern Iraq late on Wednesday, Kurdish officials said, with no immediate reports of casualties. It was the first known attack carried out by an unmanned aerial drone against U.S. forces in Erbil, amid a steady stream of rocket attacks on bases hosting U.S. forces and the embassy in Baghdad that Washington blames on Iran-backed militias. The Interior Ministry of the autonomous Kurdistan regional government, based in Erbil, said in a statement the drone was carrying TNT which it used to target the U.S. forces. It said no one was hurt in the attack. A group that Western and some Iraqi officials say is aligned with Iran praised the attack, but did not explicitly claim it. A barrage of rockets hit the same U.S.-led military base in the Erbil Airport vicinity in February, killing a non-American contractor working for the military.
